The purpose of this informal meeting was to increase the level of mutual coordination and provide information on upcoming activities of the organizations, primarily within the projects implemented through the IPA 128287 grant-scheme supported by the EU, and to provide other opportunities for cooperation and networking.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the following organizations:
- Metamorphosis Foundation, project leader – BEWMAN project – Balkan e-Waste Management Advocacy Network
- Gauss Institute from Bitola, the leading partner for the project Capacity Building for Banning and Phasing out Asbestos in West Balkan Countries)
- Milieu Contact, office in Skopje, the leading partner for the project European partnership for local green agendas and partner KOCKA
- Macedonian Ecological Society, a partner in the project Wings Across the Balkans
- Environmentalist Association of Macedonia, a partner in the project EU Environmental Policies and Strategies in South Eastern Europe)
All participants had an opportunity to present their planned activities and project objectives, with particular emphasis on the opportunities for direct collaboration with the other participants.
During the discussion, the upcoming activities of the projects from the IPA scheme were presented, as well as the opportunities for the CSOs to be included in the upcoming network building within the framework of those projects, such as the BEWMAN network and electronic connection between the parties interested in phasing out of asbestos, such as the Ideal-ist network. The opportunities for participating at the events of projects for dealing with asbestos and for preparing green agendas in the next two months were also presented.
During the second part of the meeting, the representative of the Metamorphosis Foundation presented two online tools developed in other projects, intended to increase the impact of the work of CSOs and disseminate information and knowledge.
Initially, the topical blogs platform Kauza.mk was presented, with а proposal for opening a blog for the cause of environmental protection, eg. ekologija.kauza.mk – which could be used by attendees, and all other relevant NGOs for sharing information, both about their operations and beyond.
The web content aggregator Ping.mk was presented afterwards, used for sharing links and review of new content related to Macedonia which is automatically obtained through RSS from various areas, one of which is ecology.
The meeting was also used for exchange of experiences in terms of administrative-financial issues associated with implementing EU projects in Macedonia, regulating relations between the partners and official procedures for exemption from VAT, as well as the ability for capacity building through the training offered by TACSO.
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